


Far From the Pitch

by Mcs126



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-25
Updated: 2016-07-11
Packaged: 2018-05-23 05:20:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6106189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mcs126/pseuds/Mcs126
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tobin Heath is used to her carefree lifestyle of a footballer. Her home is on the pitch with her teammates and she's never known anything but that life. So when she tears her ACL in a friendly against China, her whole world shifts and she's sure she left a part of herself on the pitch that day; a part she may never get back. With the help of her friends, family, and physical therapist and trainer, Christen Press, Tobin pulls herself together enough to at least attempt some kind of recovery. Hopefully she'll find herself back where she belongs, but maybe along the way, she discovers a new home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Change

**Author's Note:**

> Here we go! Attempting something different here, as I am fully aboard the Preath ship. Hope you like it and come along for the ride with me!

If there is only one true constant in this life, it’s change.

Nothing is guaranteed, nothing is given, and Tobin knows this all too well. She learns this when her grandfather, and best friend, dies the day after her thirteen birthday. She knows this when her best friend has to move away just before the start of their senior year, leaving Tobin to fend for herself, and she remembers this as soon as she goes down in a friendly against China. After the poorly timed tackle, Tobin is left begging for God, something, anything, to give her the last twelve seconds of her life back, to bring her back to the moment just before her life changes forever.

She feels it instantly; the pain, the ungodly pain, but most of all she feels the change, as if the earth is shifting on its axis right underneath her and everything she thinks she knows about the world is gone in an instant. The first person at her side, she thinks, is Megan Rapinoe. She’s on her knees with her fingers digging into Tobin’s shoulder to try and get her to be still and stay down, but Tobin can’t hear her at all. She’s not sure why she can’t hear anything, because all that is filling her ears while she’s down is a glass-shattering sound. It’s an awful sound, really, one that Tobin still remembers days later until curiosity takes over and she finally gives in, sitting down to watch the clip from that fateful day.

She knows she shouldn’t; she knows you’re never supposed to do this, but she does it anyway. As soon as she types it into YouTube, her knee starts to hurt and she rubs at it absently through the brace. The clip starts and Tobin thinks for a moment that she should definitely shut it off, but then it happens so quickly that she doesn’t have time to react. She doesn’t realize she’s crying until she feels the tears hit her hand on her lap. She doesn’t even make the connection that the sound she has heard every night in her sleep since the injury, and the sound that replays over and over in her head, is actually her own screaming, but as soon as it clicks, she slams her laptop shut, vowing to never watch the video again and she never does.

\--

More people than Tobin can even count come to visit her in the hospital after her surgery. If she were being honest, she would rather be alone and have no one know about her knee at all, not even her parents, but that’s not possible, not when the whole world is watching the women’s national team these days. She’ll never take for granted the fans they have after dominating the World Cup and the Olympics, but sometimes she wishes she could get by with not being seen or noticed like she used to. Then again, that’s just the change that Tobin has to get used to these days.

A few days after her surgery, Tobin ends up in her childhood bedroom, surrounded by memories she had thought she left behind. Her younger life wasn’t bad, per se; in fact it was quite the opposite, but Tobin is tired of telling her family that she’s ‘just fine’ every ten minutes when they come in to check on her.

“Perry, I’m fine.” Tobin insists. Her sister, Perry, came home for a couple weeks to spend time with the family, but Tobin knows her mother asked her to come to see if she could get Tobin to open up a bit more. It’s not that Tobin didn’t want to talk to anyone; it’s just that all anyone talks about is her knee and Tobin’s not all that interested in that part of the conversation anymore.

“You’re not fine, Tobin! You’re the opposite of fine.” Perry almost never raises her voice, so Tobin’s a bit taken back at the sound and stays silent. “You don’t think I know you better than anyone else?” Perry asks quietly.

“Of course I know that. I just,” Tobin pauses and absentmindedly plays with the strings of her hoodie. “I just don’t want you guys to worry about me so much.” Tobin looks up at Perry and watches as her features soften. Perry sits down in front of Tobin on the bed and takes her hands in between her own.

“I always worry about you, Tobs. Even when you’re healthy and happy, I worry. You’re my favorite sister, don’t tell Katie, and I just want you to be okay again.” Tobin nods in understanding. She feels even worse knowing that her struggles have impacted Perry personally and makes her feel like shutting down even more. Perry squeezes Tobin’s hands, drawing her attention back up. “How does the knee feel?” Perry asks, somewhat cautiously. Tobin thinks for a moment before deciding to tell the truth.

“It doesn’t feel good, Perr. I’m kind of scared.” Tobin says quietly. “What if I,” Tobin stops when she feels a lump form in her throat. She swallows it down and continues. “What if I can’t get back?” Perry is silent and Tobin thinks _that’s a first_ , until she finally opens her mouth to speak.

“You have to try; the Tobin I know would try. When you were little and told everyone you wanted to be a professional soccer player, I even knew then that you could do it. Besides the fact that you had natural talent, you had so much passion and so much desire to make that dream a reality that there was never really a doubt in my mind. I know you’re hurting and you feel lost without the ball at your feet, but I don’t know how you could walk away now. You have to try.” Perry tells her and Tobin watches as tears well up in her eyes. Tobin nods at her sister and pulls her into a hug.

“I’ll try, Perry. I’m trying.” Tobin reassures her. She hopes Perry can’t hear the uncertainty in her voice, but she can’t let Perry know how much she has truly given up on even the idea of getting back out there. She knows she has a long way to go physically, but mentally, she’s not even sure her heart is in it anymore.

\--

“Tobin, it’s been two weeks since your surgery. You need to get out and get into physical therapy, like yesterday.” Kelley warns Tobin not so gently. Kelley came to visit Tobin after Tobin’s sister called to give her an update. Once Kelley learned how Tobin was acting and how unwilling she was to even get out of bed, not to mention how Tobin had refused to go to physical therapy as of yet, she hopped on the first flight out. She was more than shocked that her best friend, someone who loved the game more than anyone, would just _give up_ , but she understood the feeling of being completely let down by your own body and she knew she needed to help Tobin in any way that she could.

“Earth to Tobin, anybody home?” Kelley says while waving a hand in front of Tobin’s face, which seems to be glued to the TV. Kelley turns and makes a face at the trash TV show that seems to have Tobin so interested. She crosses the room and turns it off. When she turns back to face her friend, Tobin’s eyes are already on her and Kelley finally takes a moment to register the look of pure exhaustion on Tobin’s face. “Tobin.” Kelley breathes as she walks back over and sits on the edge of the bed, as close to Tobin as she can get. “You can’t do this to yourself. We need you back on the field. We need you healthy again.” Kelley pleads.

Tobin shakes her head ever so slightly and squeezes her eyes shut to keep the tears from falling, but it doesn’t work and the tears come anyway. Kelley wraps her arms around Tobin instantly, telling Tobin that she will never let go and somehow Tobin believes her.

“I’m sorry.” Tobin squeaks out between sobs against Kelley’s already tear soaked shirt.

“Don’t you dear apologize. You have nothing to be sorry for.” Kelley pulls Tobin back and cups her face in her hands. “I know you’re struggling and I know this is hard, we’ve all been here, but you’re one of the good ones Tobin; one of the best. We _need_ you out there. You’re not done yet and I won’t let you be done yet, none of us will let that happen to you.” Kelley wipes away a few tears on Tobin’s cheek before leaning in and hugging Tobin soundly. She decides right then that she can’t keep pitying herself. Between her sister and her teammates, Tobin has too many people depending on her to get better. If she can’t do this for herself just yet, she’ll do this for them because her teammates need her. Better yet, her friends need her.

\--

A couple days later, after Kelley leaves, only after dragging Tobin out of the house as much as she possibly could, and demanding Tobin promise to take steps in her recovery, she calls up Pinoe to ask for a recommendation for a physical therapist, seeing as Megan just recovered from the same injury not too long ago.

“Toboggan! How’s my favorite cripple?” Megan answers after only one ring and Tobin figures she’s probably been expecting her call.

“I’m doing okay, better actually. Kelley kind of knocked some much needed sense into me and got me out of the house.” Tobin explains.

“That’s great! She’s good for that. You two had fun?” Megan asks.

“About as much fun as I can have right now.” Tobin answers and she can hear Megan let out a chuckle.

“Well you can have a lot of fun, Tobs. Your level of fun outweighs most people I know, including myself sometimes!” Megan jokes and Tobin shakes her head with a smile spread across her face. She hasn’t felt like much fun lately, but her friends are slowly starting to remind her.

“I’m trying, I guess. I think I’m ready for that physical therapists name you offered a month ago.” Tobin says sheepishly. When Megan first offered up the name, Tobin shot her down instantly, claiming she didn’t need some physical therapist because it didn’t matter anymore. For all intents and purposes, Tobin had written off the sport she loved more than anything, but as much as she wanted to give up and quit, letting her teammates down wasn’t an option, so she was at least going to try.

“Yes! Finally! Dude, she’s incredible. She got me back on my feet in no time and pushed me more than I could have ever pushed myself. She’s a trainer too, so she knows her way around the gym. Not to mention, she’s easy on the eyes; makes it easy to pay attention.” Megan laughs and Tobin chuckles along with her. It’s only then that Tobin realizes how long it’s been since she was able to laugh about anything and she can feel it releasing the tension in every part of her body.

“What’s her name, dumbass?” Tobin says, knowing how carried away Megan can get, making the two forget what the original goal of the phone call was.

“Right. It’s Christen Press. Call her up and set up a consultation. I promise you won’t be disappointed and she’ll show you right away that she’s the real deal.” The two talk for a couple minutes more before Megan has to go and they exchange I love yous and goodbyes. Tobin stares down at the paper in her lap with the contact information and thinks that maybe she should wait until tomorrow to make the call. She busies herself with menial tasks, like picking up her room a bit, or scrolling through Twitter, which she usually avoids at all costs.

Tobin has never been the one to get nervous easily, but a lot has changed in the passed few months, in more ways than one. She’s quiet now and somewhat anxious most days. She used to hate sitting around doing nothing, always finding any excuse to get out of the house. Now, Tobin spends hours doing nothing, but watching crappy TV shows and avoiding any and all of her responsibilities. At the moment, Tobin has one job: to get better and get back to her teammates. She might be scared, but she’s slowly starting to realize, with every day that passes, how far from the pitch her mind and body have become. She decides to just go through the motions until she’s herself again, even though she’s not sure that will do the trick.

She takes a deep breath and before she knows it, her fingers are dialing and her hands are noticeably sweaty.

“Hello, Christen Press here.” Says an excited voice from the other side of the call. Tobin’s not sure what she was expecting, but somehow the voice doesn’t fit whatever visual Tobin had built up in her head.

“Hey, this is Tobin Heath. I don’t know if Pinoe told you I was going to call, but – ”

“Of course! Megan did give me a heads up about your call. I’m so glad to finally hear from you.” Christen says with such conviction that Tobin has no reason not to believe her.

“Yeah, I think I just needed some extra recovery time, but I’m totally ready now.” Tobin explains, hoping she sounds just as confident as Christen.

“That’s not a problem at all. Everyone’s recovery is vastly different; you just have to do what you and your body are ready to do and I’m glad you’re ready now! Great timing too, because I just opened up a new gym right outside of Newark. That’s close to you, right?” Christen asks and Tobin wonders what other information Pinoe decided to share with Christen, besides where she’s staying.

“Yep, probably about thirty minutes from my parents house. I’m just staying with them for now.” Tobin says, for some reason feeling the need to clarify.

“Awesome! Well, why don’t you come meet me tomorrow morning for coffee at a place right near the gym? Then, if you feel up to it, we can head over and I’ll give you a tour. We can talk about a game plan for your recovery or if that seems a bid daunting to you, we could just stick to the tour and call it a day.” Christen offers and Tobin can’t help, but feel at ease with this trainer already. Tobin thinks it will be a nice change of pace from her usual daily routine of basically sitting in bed all day. _Obviously those days are over_ , she thinks and for the first time in months she’s actually looking forward to something.

“That sounds like a plan. What time should I meet you there?” Tobin asks.

“How does nine sound to you?” Christen offers.

“Sounds perfect.” Tobin lies, groaning internally. _No more sleeping in either_ , Tobin guesses. Her head might not be totally into the idea of hitting the gym again and getting her body back to where it was, but she promised too many people that she would try and she couldn’t back out now.

“Great!” Christen exclaims and Tobin almost has to pull the phone away from her ear. “I’ll text you the address for the coffee place and see you there tomorrow morning.”

“Thanks, Christen. See you tomorrow.” The two end the call and Tobin leans back against her headboard. She takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, and imagines herself on the pitch with her teammates again. She pictures herself taking off down the left flank with the ball at her feet. She slips the ball through the feet of an oncoming defender and races around her to send the ball straight to the head of one Alex Morgan and the crowd roars for the striker, but Alex races into the arms of a waiting and ecstatic Tobin. It’s a play they’ve practiced again and again and executed just as many times, so Tobin wonders why even the thought of if feels so foreign. She wonders why it doesn’t feel real, even though Tobin knows she could run that play in her sleep. She shakes the thought from her head, blaming it on being away from the pitch for longer than she’s ever been. She knows that once she’s back with the team it will all come naturally again; she hopes anyway.


	2. "Christy, right?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! These chapters are not going to come regularly, but I will do my best. I have a plan for this story and I want to see it through. Hope you enjoy!

As Tobin nears the coffee shop, her mind begins to race. She thinks about all the reasons she should turn around and go home, like how she’s weeks off from her scheduled recovery or how she has virtually no desire to return to the pitch once she does recover, if she does recover. Tobin can’t decide what is more terrifying; never returning to the life she’s always known, by choice, or never going back because her body can’t handle it anymore. She has absolutely no idea what her life looks like without soccer, but she’s unbearably aware of how she might just have to find out.

Despite this crippling fear, Tobin finds herself opening the door to the coffee shop and pushing forward. Before she can even scan the room, a little girl comes running up to her with a phone in hand.

“Are you T-Tobin Heath?” The little girl forces out with a big smile on her face.

“I am, and you are?” Tobin asks as she lowers herself onto the empty chair next to her so she’s level with the small child. She extends her braced leg out in front of her and the girl watches her movement closely before looking back up at Tobin.

“My name is Annie and I want to be just like you when I grow up!” She says with an excited bounce.

“Just like me? Wow, that’s really sweet. Thank you, Annie.” Tobin responses, but refrains from what she wants to say which is something along the lines of “that makes one of us.”

“Can I have a picture with you?” Annie asks tentatively and Tobin can’t help, but nod in response. She might not feel like much of an athlete that little kids can look up to right now, but she knows she once was and for this little girl’s sake, she hopes she will be again. Annie turns and waves over her mom, who takes the phone and quickly takes a picture of the two. “Thanks, Tobin!” Annie says as she checks the picture on the phone. She’s smiling so wide it looks like her cheeks must hurt and Tobin figures this is one of the biggest reasons she loves to do what she does, or did.

“How’s the knee?” Annie’s mother asks innocently. Tobin’s face falls a bit, but she recovers and smiles while rising from the chair.

“Rehab is going well.” Tobin lies. “Hopefully I’ll get back out there soon.” She lies again. “Keep an eye out for me, okay Annie?” Tobin smiles down at the little one and ruffles her hair a bit. Annie’s face lights up and she nods animatedly. “Nice to meet you both.” Tobin excuses herself and heads toward the counter to get herself a drink. She had almost forgotten what she originally came in for until she sees a tall brunette closing in on her from the corner of her eye. She turns and is met with the warmest, most genuine smile she’s positive she has ever seen. She’s dressed in those high-end, cute fashion workout clothes and Tobin instantly feels underdressed in her old national team training pants and a UNC t-shirt.

“Tobin, right?” The stranger asks while sticking out her hand. Tobin shakes her hand and nods.

“Yeah, you must be Christen?” Tobin asks as she turns and takes a step closer to the counter.

“That would be me!” Christen exclaims. “Go ahead and order. I got us a table over in the corner.” Christen points across the room and Tobin notices some paperwork and a coffee cup already at the table. She wonders of Christen saw the whole exchange with Annie when Tobin walked in. Tobin nods and orders some fancy latté she’s sure she won’t even like. Once she adds all kinds of sweeteners to it, she heads over to the table Christen has claimed and sits down across from her. Christen quickly finishes the text she was typing and puts her phone face down on the table. “So, you’re a little popular around here, huh?” Christen smirks and Tobin knows now that she definitely saw what happened when she walked in.

“Oh, that. I guess so.” Tobin shrugs while taking a sip of her drink. It is bitter and not nearly sweet enough and Tobin wishes she had just gotten some dessert drink instead of acting like she actually likes hot coffee.

“You guess so? That little girl nearly had a heart attack when you walked through the door. She noticed you within seconds. I can imagine that sort of thing probably happens to you a lot.” Christen finishes and takes a sip of her drink.

“It happens occasionally, yeah. Usually it’s adults who notice, but when it’s kids who can figure out who I am all on their own, it feels extra special.” Tobin admits.

“Well it was very cute and nice of you to do all that for her. I’m sure you made her day.” Christen smiles at Tobin and it makes her feel like a million bucks.

“Thanks, but she’s the one that made my day, for sure.” It’s the little things, like pictures or autographs with fans on the street, that make Tobin feel like a pro and someone who young kids can look up to. It is kids like Annie who need Tobin to get better and get back to her team and it’s kids like Annie that give her the push to do it. Christen’s smile fads a bit, not in a bad way, but it a way that makes Tobin feel like she’s being analyzed or figured out. Christen’s phone goes off and she finally releases Tobin of her gaze to check her phone. She smiles down at the screen and Tobin busies herself with another sip of this bitter coffee she’s forcing herself to drink at least half of at this point.

“Sorry, I’m being rude.” Christen puts her phone back down and looks up at Tobin. “I just opened this gym here and I have one out in Portland too, so I’m slowly but surely learning how to manage both, ya know? It is not easy.”

“Oh, it’s okay.” Tobin gestures toward the phone so Christen knows she doesn’t mind her being on her phone. “Two gyms? That seems like a lot of work, but you must be good then.” Tobin says with a smile.

“Must be. That’s what people tell me anyway. I try not to let that get to my head though. There’s always room for improvement.” Christen explains and Tobin can sense how humble of a person she truly is, which is something Megan had told her about.

“Oh, for sure. I get that whole room for improvement thing.” Tobin laughs at herself in a self-deprecating way that makes Christen’s smile disappear.

“You’ll get back, especially if I have anything to say about it.” Christen reassures her. “Let’s get out of here and head over to the gym. I’ll show you around and if you want, we can go over what your rehab is going to look like from here on out.”

\--

After a quick walk to the gym, Tobin is already feeling exhausted and ready for a nap, but based off Christen’s excitement level, Tobin isn’t sensing that nap in her near future. Christen gives a quick tour of the different stations and the first thing Tobin notices is how perfectly everything is laid out. No machine is too close to another one and everything is clean and impeccably organized. She realizes that the gym just opened, but she senses that this is the type of gym Christen always strives for. It’s comforting to know that Christen seems to care a great deal about how her gym is run and maintained.

“So, that’s it. It’s still a little messy, but we’re getting there; still a few kinks to work out.” Christen confesses and Tobin scoffs.

“It’s perfect from what I can tell. I’m excited to get started.” Tobin says, almost as if to convince herself more than Christen. She must pick up on her uncertainty though, because she shoots Tobin a bit of a skeptical look.

“Well, let’s go into my office and we can discuss your rehab schedule.” Christen leads the way to the office and Tobin follows behind. The office is open, bright, and colorful. There are paintings all over the walls and flowers on the desk, which is basically clean of any unnecessary items and all the papers are neat and organized. If Tobin had to guess, she would say Christen was a bit of perfectionist.

“This office is awesome. I’m loving all the different colors.” Tobin says while turning toward the filing cabinet that is colored bright blue.

“Thanks! These are basically all pieces from my favorite office company, Poppin. I’m only slightly obsessed.” Christen says shyly as Tobin turns back around and takes a seat in front of her desk, which is also brightly colored. The two begin talking about what Christen thinks will be the best rehab schedule for Tobin to commit to; it starts off slow with basic movement exercises and it will work Tobin up to the more difficult workouts, ones that will undoubtedly leave her wishing she had stayed in bed. For the most part, Tobin feels good about the arrangement. She’s seen countless teammates go through this recovery process and she knows how long and strenuous it can be, but Christen seems to know what she’s talking about. She makes Tobin feel like she can trust her, like she has no ulterior motive, but to get Tobin healthy and back on the pitch. It comforts Tobin to realize this.

“All of that sounds great and it also sounds like I’m going to hate you in no time.” Tobin jokes, knowing full well that Christen isn’t the type of person anyone hates.

“Oh, I sure hope not! Don’t worry, we’ll have some fun along the way.” Christen turns to her laptop and starts writing up Tobin’s rehab plan. “Tomorrow we’ll keep things simple, but after that no more taking it easy, got it?” Christen says sternly, even with a small smile playing on her lips.

“Got it, boss. I’ll see you here bright and early.” Tobin gets up from her chair and slides her hand into Christen’s with a quick shake.

“I’m looking forward to it, Tobin.” Christen says as she releases her grip of Tobin’s hand and crosses the room to open her office door for her. “Have a good night. Get lots of rest!” She demands with a gentle hand on Tobin’s bicep as she opens her office door. Tobin nods as she shoves her hands in her pockets and forces her legs to keep on moving even though her mind is buzzing from Christen’s touch.

As she walks the two blocks back to her car, Tobin replays the first half of her day over again. She’s feeling good and positive, about working with Christen and can’t seem to decide what she was more impressed with, the gym or Christen Press herself.

\--

Later that night, while having dinner with her mom and Katie, Tobin can’t stop herself from gushing all about her day. Her mom is obviously thrilled to see Tobin excited about something, but Katie gives her a knowing smirk across the table. Tobin wonders why, but decides it’s probably a conversation for later.

“Want to go to Kate’s for some ice cream, Tobs?” Katie asks.

“I don’t think so. I have training early in the morning and I should get to sleep.” Tobin declines, but knows Katie all too well and knows she’s not letting her off the hook that easily.

“First of all, it is not even six o’clock. Second, all the more reason to get in that last ice cream sundae before you go all healthy again, and third, I was asking to be nice. You don’t really have a choice.” Katie explains as she wraps her arm around Tobin’s shoulders and pulls her to the front door. “See ya later mom!” Katie yells back and Tobin groans. “Oh it wouldn’t hurt you to spend some quality time with your _favorite sister_. And no, I don’t mean Perry, you ass.” Tobin thinks back to when she told Perry she was her favorite sister a while back and she rolls her eyes.

“It is always a competition with you two. You’re both my favorite.” Tobin pauses and Katie smiles from ear to ear. “On second thought, I kind of hate you both.” Tobin quips and dodges the punch Katie throws her way.

 

The two grab a booth at their favorite ice cream place and Katie starts to tell Tobin all about the guy she’s been seeing.

“That’s good, Kay. I’m glad you found a guy that isn’t a total jerk, like that last guy. I don’t even remember his name.” Tobin says before taking a bite of her ice cream.

“He was the worst. Glad that’s long over. What about you? Seeing anyone?” Katie questions while eyeing Tobin through her eyelashes and Tobin lets out a deep chuckle.

“When would I have met anyone? I haven’t been doing much lately.” Tobin says as she gestures to her knee.

“Hey, I don’t know! I just want you to know that you can tell me that stuff. You seem pretty fond of your new trainer. Christy, right?” Katie guesses and Tobin narrows her eyes at her sister.

“Christen. And I am not _fond_ of her or anything like that. We just met and she’s my trainer. Plus she’s totally straight.” Tobin adds before she can even stop herself and she watches as Katie’s eyebrows shoot up.

“You seem to have thought about that already, huh? How could you know she’s ‘totally straight’ anyway? Don’t judge a book by its cover, Toby.” Tobin groans.

“Don’t call me that and I can just tell. Can we change the subject please?” Tobin asks, feeling sufficiently uncomfortable at this point, as she always does when anything relationship wise comes up. Both of her sisters have absolutely no boundaries when it comes to grilling Tobin about her personal life, since she’s rather private about all of it.

Just as Tobin takes her last bite of ice cream, her phone goes off. Katie watches on as Tobin looks down at her phone and sees a text from Christen.

 **Christen Press:** Just wanted to touch base for tomorrow. I have an appointment in the morning, so I’ll meet you at the gym around 9:30. Feel free to get there early to warm up. Let the fun begin!

Tobin smiles down at her phone as she types up a reply.

 **Tobin:** Okay, gotcha. I’ll get there around 9 probably and get warmed up. Can’t wait

 **Tobin:** I mean I could wait, but I don’t think that’s going to fly with you

Tobin sends the laughing face emoji along with the texts and puts her phone down. As she looks up she sees a wild smirk come across Katie’s face.

“Don’t even.” Tobin warns as she gets up from the booth and heads out of the restaurant.

“I wasn’t going to say anything.” Katie throws her hands up in surrender and follows out after her sister. “You just seemed pretty happy with that text you just got though.”

“You just can’t help yourself, can you?” Tobin chastises her.

“So who was it?” Katie wonders as they get into the car to head home.

“It was none of your business. Drive.” Tobin demands.

“Tell me and I’ll drive.” Katie folds her arms over her chest and Tobin knows she’s not winning this one, not against the most stubborn person she’ll ever know.

“It was my trainer! Can we go home please?” Tobin reaches across the car to try and grab the keeps but Katie evades her.

“As in Christen?” Katie asks, already satisfied by Tobin’s reaction that her line of questioning for the night has given her.

“Yes. Now drive.” Tobin says through clenched teeth.

“Alright, alright. Someone’s a little sensitive tonight.” Katie winks and sends Tobin an air kiss before pulling out of the parking lot and heading home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you liked and where you think the story is going to go. I love reading all your comments and I'm going to try and respond to them! Thank you for reading!


	3. Pizza and Close Calls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Hope you enjoy this wicked long (well, long for me) chapter. I may not have too much time to write in the next couple weeks, but I hope you'll stick around. I promise you'll get another chapter soon, as I'll write any chance I get. Enjoy this chapter though! Tell me your thoughts/predictions and thank you for all the feedback!

Two weeks into her rehab and Tobin is feeling better than she could have ever imagined. It hasn’t been anything short of exhausting and painful, but Tobin is slowly starting to remember how much she enjoys being active and she can truly see herself improving with every day that passes. Some days, Tobin has short and intense workouts, but on most days, when she’s really feeling up for it, she’s there for hours at a time, if not twice in one day.

She’d be lying if she said it had nothing to do with Christen Press.

Everyday that Tobin spends getting to know Christen, she learns more things to like about her. Like how she loves dogs more than people and hopes to open a doggie daycare attached to her gyms some day or how she believes that meditation is what has gotten her to be so successful in her career. The one thing that Tobin has noticed most about Christen is how charming she can be. Since Tobin spends so much of her time at the gym, she’s witnessed how Christen interacts with other clients, old and young, and how those interactions just seem to come naturally for her. Beyond that, Tobin has noticed that Christen is kind and energetic, and she’s gentle and intelligent. Half the time Tobin doesn’t even know what Christen is talking about, but she still listens, slowly realizing how her voice has become one of her favorite sounds.

And the two have talked _a lot._ As much as Tobin feels like she’s getting to know Christen, she also knows Christen is getting to know her. She’s constantly asking her personal questions, like how she found soccer or about her time with the national team. Tobin has shied away from those topics as of recently, but with Christen, the stories just keep on flowing and she doesn’t even realize until she’s practically crying from laughing so hard when telling a funny story about Pinoe or Kelley, the notorious jokers of the team.

They both share countless stories about their childhood and about growing up with their siblings and Tobin slowly starts to comprehend just how long it has been since she felt this comfortable with someone. She becomes fully aware of this when she finds herself telling Christen a story about how her little brother ate almost an entire box of those chocolate laxatives once. She’s in the middle of laughing about how hilarious it was to watch him book it to the bathroom when she realizes where they were when it all happened.

“He was basically screaming the entire time and wouldn’t let my mom come into the bathroom. After some convincing though, he let a nurse come in.” Tobin says through her laughter.

“A nurse?” Christen questions through her own laughter.

“Oh, um,” Tobin pauses as she finishes her rep on the row machine, “we were all at the hospital. That’s where he found the box. I mean, I don’t blame him; it honestly looks like regular chocolate. To this day he still won’t eat chocolate.” Tobin recalls as she gets up from the machine and wipes the sweat off her forehead with her sleeve.

“That’s hilarious.” Christen comments, quickly turning around to head to the next machine Tobin will be using. “Your poor brother. I couldn’t imagine not being able to eat chocolate.”

“He also really hates hospitals now too.” Tobin sits down at the leg press.

“How doesn’t.” Christen states as she loads up the machine with enough weights to push Tobin a bit, but not enough to stress her knee too much. “Why were you all at the hospital?” Christen asks and Tobin feels her stomach leap into her throat.

“My grandfather. He, um, wasn’t doing well.” Tobin says simply, in hopes that Christen won’t ask more questions; not because she doesn’t want to tell her, but because she thinks she might actually tell her everything if she asks and the thought makes Tobin’s blood run cold.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Tobin.” Christen says quietly. “What happened?” Christen asks and Tobin looks up at her. The silence settles between the two of them before Christen puts her hand up. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” She clarifies. Except, that’s the thing, Tobin wants to and what scares her the most is that she’s never told anyone about her grandfather, not even her best friends on the national team or her club team, and she’s more than willing to share the story right now with Christen.

“He was really sick for a long time. He had Alzheimer’s disease and it basically took away any part of him that was recognizable at all. At that point, when we were visiting him, he had been sick for three years and passed away about six months after that.” Tobin turns back to face the weights in front of her and begins her reps, hoping to take her mind off the memories that come flooding back.

“I’m really sorry to hear that, Tobin.” Christen says as she places her hand on Tobin’s shoulder. The warmth from her fingertips radiates through Tobin’s entire body and the blood that ran cold moments before is nearly boiling from Christen’s touch alone. Tobin nods in understanding when she can’t find the words to convey how she feels. She wants Christen to know that she’s the only person she has ever told that story to; the only person she’s ever even brought up her grandfather to, but she also doesn’t want Christen to think it means something to Tobin that she was able to tell her about her grandfather. The fact of the matter is it doesn’t mean _something;_ it means everything.

\--

The following week, Christen is frantic and Tobin’s positive she has never seen her so unhinged. She’s getting ready to travel back to Portland for a week to check in on the gym and take care of everything on the business side, but she’s nervous beyond belief about leaving her brand new gym in New Jersey in the hands of anyone, but herself.

“Christen, these are your people. As in you hand picked them to run this place. You have to let them do their job and prove themselves to you.” Tobin tries her best to convince the panicked brunette. In any other situation, Tobin would keep her mouth shut. She’s had trainers in the past that she became friendly with, but something about her relationship with Christen is different. Of course, Christen helps Tobin, she’s her client, but Tobin has also helped Christen. On more than one occasion, if a trainer couldn’t come in or sessions were double booked, Tobin stepped in and took care of the client. Christen trusts Tobin with her business and in turn, being able to help ha boosted Tobin’s confidence and there was no way Christen was going to hinder that growth.

“I know,” Christen groans at herself, “this place is just my baby still. I feel like I shouldn’t be leaving it yet, like it’s not ready.” Christen admits as she plops herself down on the couch in her office next to Tobin.

“It’s ready!” Tobin says as she turns to face her trainer. “I’m here everyday and from a totally outsiders point of view, these guys are ready to be on their own. Plus, you’ll be back soon. It’s not like you’re leaving forever.” Tobin finishes with a squeeze of Christen’s knee.

“You’re not an outsider Heath, you practically work here too. I should pay you.” Christen huffs and turns to look at the midfielder. Tobin smiles wildly back at her and she watches as Christen’s features soften a bit. “I’m not paying you. Forget about it.” Tobin lets out a bellowing laugh and shakes her head.

“No, no, no. I don’t want you to pay me, but I do have an idea. I’ll be here everyday anyway, right? So I’ll keep an eye on things, ya know from an ‘outsiders point of view.’” Tobin says with a wink and Christen shifts a bit as she looks down at her hands in her lap. If Tobin thought about it for a moment longer, she would have thought she could see Christen’s cheeks redden a bit. She shakes the thought from her head altogether and continues. “I’ll just text you updates, if you want.”

“That’s a great idea, Tobin! I didn’t want anyone here to think I was checking up on them if I constantly asked how things were going, but this way I don’t have to ask them!” Christen beams and nearly knocks Tobin over as she throws her arms around her shoulders. Tobin wraps her arms around Christen’s middle and holds her close. The scent of Christen’s shampoo intoxicates Tobin and she holds on even longer to commit the smell to memory. As soon as Christen begins to pull away, Tobin snaps out of her stupor and drops her hands back into her lap.

“No problem, Press. I got this place under control.” Tobin gives Christen a thumbs up before rising up off the couch and forcing a bit of distance between the two. “I should get going though. My mom is dragging me shopping today.” Tobin groans.

“Oh, fun! I’m jealous.” Christen says as she cross the room and sits down at her laptop. Tobin watches her for a minute and before she can stop herself, the words are practically falling out of her mouth.

“Do you want to come? I could use the company. My mom is kind of a crazy shopper.” Tobin says as she rubs the back of her neck. She instantly feels stupid for asking, knowing full well that Christen has a ton of work to do and is now in that awkward position of needing to politely turn her down. Tobin is about to tell her she absolutely doesn’t have to come when she realizes Christen’s face is practically glowing with excitement.

“I would love to come! I actually need a few outfits for some meetings in Portland. This way I get to go shopping with someone fun.” Christen says with a playful smile as she closes her laptop and grabs her sweatshirt off the back of her desk chair.

After a quick shower and outfit change for Tobin, the two head out to the shopping center where Tobin planned on meeting her mom. As they pull up, Tobin notices that her mom isn’t alone. She leans her head back against the seat.

“Great. Katie is here.” Tobin informs Christen.

“As in your sister?” Christen asks and Tobin snaps her head back to look at her.

“You remembered that?” Tobin wonders in surprise.

“Of course I do. I’m pretty good with names though, but why is her being here a bad thing?” Christen turns off the car and turns toward Tobin.

“She’s just nosey and annoying sometimes. I’m sorry in advance for her weirdness.” Tobin comments as the two get out of the car and walk toward the main entrance.

“No need to apologize. I deal with your weirdness on a daily basis.” Christen quips and Tobin lets her jaw drop, feigning shock.

“Excuse me! I am not weird. I am totally normal.” A deep laugh escapes from Christen and she places her hand on Tobin’s bicep before shoving her a little.

“Sure, sure, Tobs.” Christen says as they get within earshot of Tobin’s mom and sister. Tobin looks up and sees Katie smiling from ear to ear and she rolls her eyes. With Katie there, she knows she’s knows she’s going to get an earful later. She just hopes Katie doesn’t freak Christen out, too much.

For the most part, Katie is on her best behavior. She’s spending a lot of time talking to Christen and asking her questions about her work, but she isn’t being invasive or rude, and for that, Tobin is grateful. After shopping at nearly every store imaginable, Tobin is relieved when they finally make their last stop. She’s been saddled with the task of carrying most of Christen’s bags, but she doesn’t dare complain. Especially when Christen pulls Tobin into every dressing room area to give her ‘honest opinion’ on everything Christen tries on.

“What about this?” Christen asks as she opens the door and steps out in a coral colored sundress that Tobin thinks could be her favorite color. She’s unsure of what her favorite color was before, not that it matters now with Christen standing there wearing it, but she’s sure that if someone were to ask her in that moment, she’d just point to Christen.

“I love it. The color is nice.” Tobin says casually. “You look beautiful.” The words slip out before Tobin can grab them and Christen’s smile falls slightly before the corners of her mouth fold up into a bright smile, one that Tobin has come fairly accustomed to seeing.

“Thank you.” Christen says just above a whisper. “There’s one more to try on and then I’m done, promise.” Christen must think Tobin is dying to go home, but truthfully, Tobin thinks she could follow Christen around shopping any day, any day.

“It’s okay. I’ve had fun shopping with you today. I know my mom and sister have too.”

“They’re so awesome!” Christen says from behind the closed door. “I’m glad you asked me to come with you guys. You and your sister are pretty hilarious together.” Christen laughs to herself, remembering the last few hours and how Tobin and Katie have a playful banter that just drags anyone in.

“Oh please, I’m the funny one. Tobin is a dud.” Katie says as she stands at the edge of the dressing room area with her arms crossed over her chest.

“Shut it, Kay. You ain’t shit.” Tobin waves her off.

“How about this one?” Christen says shyly as she stands there in front of the sisters in a skin tight grey dress; a dress that leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination and Tobin’s mouth goes dry as she realizes how thankful she is to be sitting.

“Damn, girl! You look hot!” Katie yells as she stands over next to Tobin.

“Thanks, Katie.” Christen says as her cheeks redden a bit. She turns her attention back to Tobin and watches as her eyes wonder down the length of Christen’s body. “Tobin?” Christen voice finally brings Tobin back down to earth and her eyes go wide at being caught taking her all in.

“S-Sorry.” Tobin stutters out. She can feel Katie’s eyes on her and knows Christen is waiting for something, anything to let her know that she likes the dress. “That dress looks great on you.” Tobin settles with and Christen smiles back at her.

“You don’t think it’s a little too much?” Christen asks and Tobin instantly thinks to say something like, _absolutely not, god no._

“Nope. It’s perfect.” Tobin settles on as Christen blushes more and closes the changing room door. Tobin finally lets out the breath she’s been holding in, just in time to be elbowed in the gut by Katie.

“What the hell was that?” Katie whispers so Christen can’t hear her.

“Nothing.” Tobin hisses. “Mind your business.”

“Mind my- Tobin!” Katie whisper yells. “You like her!” Katie flails a bit at her discovery and Tobin grabs her and drags her out of the area and back onto the sales floor.

“Katie, shut up! I don’t like her. Would you stop acting like you know everything?”

“I’ve never seen you look at anyone that way, Tobs. Please don’t let your pride get in the way of something good, because trust me, she likes you too.” Katie pats Tobin’s cheek lightly before turning and walking away, leaving Tobin to stew in her words. _She likes me? How would she know?_ Tobin thinks. Just as she’s about to chase after her sister to ask her why she thinks that, Christen comes up behind her and slides her arm through Tobin’s elbow.

“Ready to go?” Christen asks as she squeezes Tobin’s arm. All Tobin can muster up is a nod, until finally her feet start moving toward the registers. “I was thinking about having a late night gym session, if you want to join.” Christen releases herself form Tobin’s arm and gets rung out at the register.

“Sure, sounds good to me.” Tobin says, taking any opportunity she can to spend time with Christen before she leaves for Portland for a week. She thinks that maybe, just maybe, she actually does have feelings for the brunette, but she quickly ignores the thought and thinks about anything else.

\--

Back at the gym, Christen and Tobin grind out a light work out before hitting the floor for some rehab exercises. It’s nearly 8pm and Tobin figures she should probably leave soon since Christen’s flight is rather early the next day.

"Great job, Tobin. You've improved on that exercise for sure. Keep it up." Christen praises Tobin with a pat on the back, but the contact burns Tobin's cheeks and she ends up swallowing so hard that she's sure Christen could hear her. "Go ahead and do some stretches. I'll be right back." Christen jogs off, disappearing into her office. 

Tobin starts off doing some stretches, but eventually grows too tired to even try. So she falls back onto her back and stares up at the ceiling. She thinks back to just about a month before, when she could barely get out of bed to shower or pee, to now. She's starting to feel like herself again, slowly but surely, and it feels almost too good to be true. Tobin figures she'll just ride this wave until something gives, but she's hoping that day just never comes. Tobin is brought out of her daydream by the sound of Christen padding back over across the gym floor. 

"That doesn't look like stretching to me, Tobs." Christen says and Tobin can practically hear the smirk on her face. She leans up on her elbows and looks over at the brunette. 

"I'm too tired to stretch." Tobin pouts and before she can even react, Christen is at her feet, patting her leg.

"I'll help you then." Christen smiles warmly at the midfielder as she takes Tobin's foot in her hands. Tobin watches as Christen manipulates her ankle and leg into different positions and stretches, all which feel absolutely horrible and wonderful at the same time. Tobin hisses in response to the tightness she's feeling in her muscles, but Christen only presses further. She can't quite decide if she's starting to loosen up or if she's just going numb with the amount that Christen is touching her; she thinks it’s probably the latter. 

"So I just ordered some pizza from this ridiculously good place around the corner. It'll be here in," Christen pauses as she glances at her watch, "probably 5 minutes. Stay and have dinner with me? You don't really have much of a choice, but I thought I'd ask. Ya know, to be nice." Christen winks and Tobin is instantly hyperaware of their closeness and Christen's hands still digging into her leg. 

"Sure, I could go for some pizza. It better be worth it though. My trainer has me on this wicked diet and hates when I cheat." Tobin quips, shocked at herself for finding some confidence, albeit from somewhere deep inside her. She’s more than exhausted from the many events of the day, but there’s something about Christen that’s almost addicting.

"Don't worry, I won't tell on you." Christen responds just as the front buzzer goes off. She gets up and heads toward the front door. "We'll eat upstairs at my place, if that's okay with you." She yells back with her back turned, which Tobin is instantly grateful for when her eyebrows shoot up before she can even stop them. 

"Sure." Tobin stutters out and gets up off the ground to meet Christen at the stairs to go up to her apartment. If Tobin wasn't a mix of exhausted and starving, she might freak out a bit. Well, a bit more than she was already starting to freak out. Luckily, Christen quickly returned to her side with a large pizza box in hand.

Once upstairs, Christen tells Tobin to take a seat at the table while she disappears into the kitchen. She comes back with a couple glasses of water and plates and sits down across from Tobin before opening the box and taking out a slice. 

"Help yourself and just try and tell me this isn't some damn good pizza." Christen says just before taking a large bite. Tobin grabs a slice and digs in. 

"Wow." Tobin says through a mouthful. She quickly finishes her bite and swallows. "I'm impressed. That’s some good pizza.” Christen nods in agreement and the two eat in silence for a while.

“Thanks for inviting me along today. I’ve never had that much fun shopping.” Christen says as she grabs another slice.

“It was a lot of fun, wasn’t it? Sorry my sister is such a pain in the ass.” Tobin says.

“Katie is great! Don’t be so hard on her. She’s your sister; she’s supposed to get under your skin.” Christen laughs.

“Yeah, yeah. I guess.”

“Plus she said I looked hot in that last dress. She’s on my good list for life.” Christen smiles wide and Tobin can’t help, but laugh.

“Well, if there is one thing about my sister that I can stand, it’s that she’s no liar.” Tobin admits before realizing what she’s actually saying.

“So does that mean you agree with her?” Christen wonders and Tobin freezes. She slowly looks up and is met with an expectant smile from Christen. Tobin can tell she’s just messing with her and it’s certainly working.

“I guess you could say that.” Tobin confesses as she takes a bite of her pizza to stop herself from talking more. As she pulls the slice away from her mouth, she gets sauce just under her bottom lip and before she can even get to a napkin, Christen leans across the table and wipes it away with her thumb. Tobin watches on as Christen licks her thumb clean and suddenly, Tobin isn’t so hungry for pizza anymore.

“Sorry.” Christen says in a tone that doesn’t sound all that apologetic. “Want to watch a movie or do you have to get going?” Christen asks as she picks up the plates and starts to grab the leftover pizza box, but Tobin grabs it first.

“I got it. Sure, I can stay for a movie.” She gets up and follows Christen into the kitchen where she wraps up the pizza and puts it in her fridge.

“Take that home with you tonight. It will just go bad while I’m away and I’ll forget when I come back, until I try and eat it.” Christen admits with a crinkle of her nose and Tobin thinks she’s may never grow tired of seeing that smile. She nods and turns to walk back into the living room.

They end up watching Stick It after realizing it's both one of their favorite movies. At first, they start off with about a foot of space between the two, but after Christen makes a trip to the kitchen for some popcorn, she ended up sidled up right against Tobin to watch the rest of the movie. By the end of the final scene, Tobin is stuck with a sleeping Christen wrapped around her arm and she looks so peaceful that she doesn’t dare wake her. After some time of watching her sleep, Tobin begins to feel insanely creepy and tries to stir her away.

“Christen. Hey, wake up.” Tobin says quietly as she nudges her a bit with her elbow. Christen begins to come to and looks up at Tobin through sleepy eyes.

“Hey.” She yawns. “Sorry, I can’t believe I fell asleep. Today was a long day, I guess.” Christen chuckles, but still doesn’t create any space between her and Tobin.

“That’s alright. You made it almost to the end.” Tobin smiles down at the dark haired women on her arm and finds herself actually getting used to Christen’s closeness.

“I don’t usually fall asleep during movies though. You’re just really warm and comfortable.” Christen cuddles even closer to Tobin, as if that was even possible, and looks up into her eyes.

“You have gorgeous eyes.” Tobin says before she can stop herself. It's taking every ounce of energy left in Tobin not to close the distance between their lips, so she just stays stock still, examining Christen’s eyes. She can’t quite pinpoint the color at first, but after some time she realizes that maybe it’s just impossible. Right now they’re a brownish green, but in the sunlight, she knows them to be hazel green. Either way, Tobin thinks she’s never seen a more unique color and she thinks it wouldn’t even matter what color Christen’s eyes really were; that color would be beautiful nonetheless.

“Thanks, Tobin.” Christen says lazily. “You’re sweet.” She looks back into Tobin’s eyes, just as deeply as before and she thinks she can feel the brunette leaning up slowly. Her pulse starts to race and her hands grow sweaty. Just before there is barely any space between them, Tobin’s phone starts going off in her pocket.

“Shit.” She growls while pulling away from Christen and standing up to take her phone out of her back pocket. She mumbles when she sees who’s calling. “What?” She answers. “Seriously?” Tobin pauses. “Fine, I’ll be there soon. Send me the address.”

“I uh, should get going.” Tobin forces out after hanging up. When she finally looks at Christen she can’t quite read her expression anymore. “My sister is stranded with a flat tire. Again.” Tobin grumbles and grabs her jacket from the chair.

“Oh, that’s okay. I have an early flight anyway and clearly I need the sleep.” Christen says with a quiet chuckle as she gets up from the couch and cross the room to the door.

“Have a safe flight, okay?” Tobin says as she reaches the door. Christen just nods and the two stand in front of each other as the awkward silence settles between them. “I’ll text you updates. Don’t worry though, the gym is in good hands.” Tobin smiles at Christen, who flashes her own quick smile before looking down at her feet. Tobin steps forward and pulls Christen in for a hug. It feels forced, to say the least, so Tobin doesn’t bother looking at her again before opening the door and retreating down the stairs.

She feels like she should be relieved; she’s in no position to let Christen think that anything could happen between the two of them, but at the same time, she can’t help be feel connected to Christen on a level well beyond anything she’s ever experienced with a trainer. On her walk back to the car, Tobin slowly starts to realize how far from a ‘trainer/client’ relationship the two have fallen. Maybe it’s a good thing and maybe it’s not, but the one thing Tobin knows for sure is that it’s probably time to call in the big guns to help her figure out what’s really going on. The one person she knows who will absolutely knock some sense into her is Alex Morgan. She figures it might just be time for the striker to pay her a much needed, and much belated, visit.


	4. Sober Thoughts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! Another chapter! Hope you all like this one. We're getting good now ;) Enjoy! Let me know where you think the story is going from here... I always love all the feedback!

Even at a young age, Tobin has had a unique ability to attract honest, supportive, and positive people in her life. While kids in her elementary school classes were fighting over birthday party invitations and best friends statuses, Tobin was content with her best friend and to this day, she can’t recall a single fight between the two of them. Her mom always told her that it was because she was the most genuine friend anyone could have and there was never any reason to fight with Tobin because she was an open book. Friends come and go, people grow apart, but Tobin was the type of person you could come back to, even after years of little to no contact, and just pick up where you left off. Even if all her friends said she was the best friend anyone could even imagine having, she always felt like the lucky one. Especially now, less than twenty-four hours after calling, Alex Morgan is standing on Tobin’s parents front porch with luggage in hand, waiting for Tobin to let her in.

“Hey, Tobs.” Alex says casually before she pushes the screen door open with her hip and enters the house.

“That was fast.” Is all Tobin can think to say. Tobin knew that Alex showing up was in the realm of possibilities, but she didn’t think she would show up not even a day later.

“You seemed like you needed me here and I wasn’t going to have much time to visit you when…” Alex trails off and Tobin knows exactly what she’s avoiding.

“Preseason starts? You can talk about football, Alex. You can talk about the girls too. I know you’ve been refraining from those topics. I’m not _so_ fragile that I can’t even handle hearing about everything.” Tobin assures her and Alex’s shoulders visibly relax. She drops her bag and quickly pulls Tobin into a tight hug.

“I miss you so much, Tobin. It’s just not the same without you out there with me. I can barely connect on crosses or score a freaking goal.” Alex pulls back and Tobin notices the tears forming at the bottom of her eyes.

“Stop that. You scored a goal in the last national team match. You can score goals just fine, Lex.” Tobin rubs her hands up and down Alex’s arms to comfort her as best as she can. She’s not used to seeing the striker breakdown like this and the look of defeat painted on Alex’s face is never one Tobin likes to see.

“Yeah,” Alex scoffs, “because the defense left me wide open in front of the goal. I could have blown on the ball and it would have gone in.” Alex looks down at her feet. Tobin stays silent for a moment; just long enough to draw Alex’s attention back up.

“The Alex Morgan I know would never doubt herself like this. You don’t need me out there with you in order to score goals; you just need to be confident in yourself.” Alex simply shakes her head.

“Maybe it’s not that I need you out there, but that I want you out there. You’re going to come back, right?” Alex asks expectantly. If Tobin wasn’t sure about her future with the national team before, she had to be now. As Alex’s stare burns holes into Tobin’s eyes, she realizes just how much her teammates need her. It’s something she’s gone back and forth about since her injury, but with Alex standing there, pleading with her to come back, she thinks that she really doesn’t have much of a choice and what little choice she has might not be hers to make anymore.

“I’m coming back, Lex. Don’t worry.” Tobin offers her a warm smile for reassurance and Alex’s face lights up faster than when her shot hits the back of the net.

“Oh, thank you!” Alex throws her arms around the midfielder a second time, only this time, she doesn’t let go.

\--

Hours after the two catch up and their reunion settles back into their normal routine, Alex finally remembers the real reason she flew all the way up from Florida on a redeye flight.

“Oh my god! I’m such an idiot. I come here to help you with your crisis and all I do is bother you with my own problems.” Alex exclaims and Tobin just can’t help, but laugh.

“It’s not a crisis. I just don’t really know what to do and I’m kind of freaking out.” Tobin admits somewhat reluctantly.

“Tobin, by definition, that’s kind of what a crisis is.” Alex explains and smiles at a flustered Tobin, who rolls her eyes and sticks her tongue out. She quickly looks down at her phone to see a text from Christen. The two have texted back and forth, mostly about the gym, but every once in a while they fall into steady conversation about their plans for the day or the things they had already done. Tobin is finally getting around to telling Christen that Alex came to visit.

 **Tobin:** That sounds awesome! I’m jealous. Tell that Pinhead I miss her. I actually have a visitor this week too. You might know her.

Tobin sends the text and goes to send Christen a picture.

“Alex, smile.” Tobin says as she takes a picture of Alex and quickly sends it to Christen before she can object.

“What the hell was that for? Let me see.” Alex demands and reaches over for Tobin’s phone. Tobin shows Alex the text message and as she’s reading, Christen responds.

 **Christen:** Uh, yeah. I think I know her. Is she a basketball player or something?

“Oh, she’s got jokes.” Alex chuckles and Tobin is thankful to have a best friend who is not easily offended by any means.

 **Tobin** : Something like that.

Alex types for Tobin and starts scrolling up to the rest of their conversations after sending the text.

“Excuse me, no snooping.” Tobin warns and tries to grab the phone. Alex shakes her head and moves the phone out of Tobin’s reach. “Alex, cut the shit.” Tobin scolds.

“This is for research, _Toby_. I thought you hated that nickname!” Alex exclaims after scrolling by a text from Christen where she uses the nickname. Tobin rolls her eyes.

“Maybe I just hate it when you call me that.” Tobin says.

“Uh, negative. You hate it always; you just like it when Christen uses it.” Alex sticks her tongue out in Tobin’s direction, but doesn’t take her attention off the texts in front of her. Tobin ends up letting Alex check out their conversation, knowing there isn’t much to see there anyway. “Oh! That’s rather flirty, Tobin.” Alex says, pointing to a text Tobin sent. “And you sent her a selfie! Well, well, well.” Alex smirks at the midfielder.

“It’s a picture of the gym! Fuck off.” Tobin says, getting noticeably annoyed at the strikers antics, as always.

“Please. That’s a selfie and you know it. You didn’t need to get your hot and sweaty self in the shot and yet…” Alex trails off before shoving Tobin’s phone in her face, making her point crystal clear.

“Alright, alright.” Tobin waves her off. “You’ve made your point. I obviously have a crush.”

“That’s okay. She’s got one too.” Alex says without looking up from the phone. Tobin snaps her head up and stares at Alex.

“What? How do you know?” Tobin grills her.

“Seriously? It’s painfully obvious. Plus, she’s obviously busy with all the stuff she’s telling you she’s been up to, but she still finds time to text _you._ ” Alex explains and looks at Tobin. “She likes you, Tobs. Don’t be dumb; she seems like a good one.” Alex says as she hands Tobin her phone back. Tobin thinks, _don’t be dumb,_ is a lot easier said than done.

\--

Later that night, Alex drags Tobin out to a local bar for a few drinks. She tried to argue her way out of it, but truth be told, Tobin is more than happy to go out with Alex. It had been a long time since the two were able to spend time together, with Tobin’s injury and all, but even without her injury, the duo would soon be separating come the start of the NWSL season. A new team had emerged and the second Tobin found out where the team would reside, she knew she’d be losing her best friend to Orlando. She was happy for Alex, of course, but in a selfish way, she wished that things didn’t always have to change. Not that it mattered much anyway, since Tobin would be out for at least the beginning of the season, but even still, Tobin was grateful to have this time now to spend with her favorite striker.

“To new beginnings and old friends.” Alex says, rising up her glass. Tobin rolls her eyes. “Don’t you roll your eyes at me!” Alex shoves Tobin’s shoulder.

“You’re so crony!” Tobin laughs as she brings up her own glass. “To the start of a new season! You guys are going to kill it.” Tobin clinks her glass with Alex, whose face falls a bit.

“ _You’re_ going to kill it too. I expect to see you back by midseason.” Alex gives Tobin a pointed look and she knows she won’t have much say on the matter now that Alex is involved. Surprisingly, Alex’s pushing doesn’t bother Tobin, not even in the slightest. If anything, it’s more refreshing, as opposed to everyone in her life telling her to ‘take your time’ or ‘you’ll get back when you’re ready.’ She thinks that maybe this is what she has needed all along; someone to hold her accountable for her recovery and someone to set expectations for her, far above the ones she could set for herself.

Christen is like this too. She pushes Tobin to her limits, limits that Tobin once knew how to push herself to, limits that probably didn’t even exist to Tobin in the first place. Ever since her injury, Tobin has mindlessly put herself in a small box of the things she can and can’t do, and somehow, she’s forgotten what she’s capable of, but she realizes now that maybe that’s not entirely a fault of her own, but of those around her. She knows they mean well, her mom and sisters, but they had taken to coddling her through this recovery process and that wasn’t doing Tobin any favors anymore.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be back to kick your team’s ass. Tell Ash to be ready, ‘cause there’s no way she’s leaving with a clean sheet.” Tobin brings her drink up to her lips and takes a lip. It’s been an even longer while since she had a drink and she immediately feels in coursing through her body. She makes a mental note to keep it to one or two drinks and also to maybe not text a certain brunette while she’s out drinking.

 

A couple hours in and Tobin is able to follow through on one of those two things.

She finishes off her first drink and has been nursing her second while the two people watch and talk about the upcoming season. They get noticed a few times, seeing as they are in Tobin’s hometown, but for the most part, people stay to themselves and do their best not to bother them. Just when Tobin thinks about finishing off her drink and getting a third, her phone buzzes in her back pocket. She takes it out and can’t help the smile that quickly spreads across her face.

 **Christen:** Guess what dress I’m wearing out tonight

Tobin gulps so loudly that Alex turns to her and gives her a confused look. Tobin just shakes her head as she types out her reply.

 **Tobin:** One of the dresses you got while shopping with me?

Truthfully, Tobin’s playing dumb because she knows exactly what dress Christen is referring to.

 **Christen:** Duh! But which one…

Before Tobin can even reply, she gets another text from Christen, only this time it’s a picture of Christen in that skintight gray dress that she tried on last on their shopping trip.

“Fuck.” Tobin says before realizing she’s actually talking out loud. Alex quickly looks over at Tobin’s phone before she can pull it away.

“Damn! Tobin if you don’t get on that, I will.” Alex jokes, but Tobin still shoots her a glare.

“What do I even say back to this?” Tobin says somewhat frantically. She’s never really been in this situation before, at least not recently. The only real relationship she has ever been in was with a teammate back when she played for PSG and that ended so poorly that Tobin hasn’t dated since. Before that, in college, she was too focused on school and soccer to pay attention to girls or flirting with girls. Most of the time, she was completely oblivious when girls would flirt with her, so those times never amounted to anything.

“Right, I forgot. You’re useless when it comes to flirting. Just tell her she looks good! Tell her you wish you were there with her instead of with me.” Alex smirks into her drink.

“No! I’m not saying that.” Tobin writes out about three replies before finally settling on something to say.

 **Tobin:** You look incredible in that dress.

“And even better without the dress.” Alex does her best Tobin impression. Tobin sends yet another glare in Alex’s direction. “Or not.” Alex puts her hands up in surrender.

“Stop being so crass.” Tobin demands, even though she knows Alex will never stop.

 **Christen:** Thank you. We should go out dancing sometime. It’s a really great workout. I’ll wear this dress again.

Christen’s text finishes with a winky face and Tobin can feel her cheeks burning a bright shade of red.

“Dancing is a really great workout! Wow, she’s subtle as a brick.” Alex throws her head back as she laughs and Tobin takes that opportunity to shove Alex off her barstool. She flails before falling off the stool and onto the floor. Tobin can’t help, but burst out laughing, but she helps Alex up anyway. “Ass.” Is all Tobin gets from Alex on the subject and for that, she’s grateful.

\--

Even though it seems like Christen’s night is just starting, Tobin and Alex’s night is nearing an end as the two grab a cab back to Tobin’s house. The texting between the two has continued and Tobin can tell that Christen is definitely drinking a bit, but she decides early on that a drunken Christen is rather endearing.

Once back at the house, Tobin decides to take a quick shower before finally settling down into bed. When she gets back to her phone, she notices a few texts and a missed call from Christen. Without even the slightest hesitation, she calls Christen back, thinking that maybe something is wrong.

“Toby! Hi.” Christen answers and Tobin smiles at the sound of her voice, albeit drunken and slurred.

“Hey, Chris. Sorry I missed your call. I was in the shower. Everything okay?” Tobin asks. She can hear some noises in the background, but its not enough to be a bar or club so she figures Christen is somewhere else at this point.

“Tobin, I like when you call me Chris.” Christen admits and its obvious she’s still very drunk.

“You’re drunk, kiddo. Are you home yet?” Tobin says as she pulls a t-shirt over her head.

“Yep.” Christen says with a pop at the end. “Pinoe took me home and put me to bed. She’s so nice and she talks so highly of you. Everyone talks so highly of you.”

“Don’t listen to anything Pinhead says about me.” Tobin laughs, but Christen stays silent. “Chris?” Tobin asks, thinking maybe she fell asleep.

“Why didn’t you kiss me that night before I left?” Christen blurts out and Tobin’s eyes go wide.

“What?” Tobin asks, but she knows what Christen is getting at.

“We were about to kiss and then you just left.” Christen says and the sound of uncertainty in her voice breaks Tobin’s heart a bit.

“I didn’t just leave. I had to go help my sister with her stupid flat tier. I…” Tobin trails off before she can muster up the courage to say what she wants to say. “I wanted to kiss you.”

“You did?” Christen’s tone lightens up and Tobin nods, as if Christen can see her.

“I still want to.” Tobin admits, feeling like a weight has been lifted off her shoulders.

“I want to too.” Christen confesses. Tobin can hear the smile in her voice and can’t help, but smile too. The two stay silent for a moment, trying to make sense of the shift that has just occurred between them. “Tobin?” Christen says finally and Tobin hums her response. “I think I have a crush on you.” She says shyly and Tobin stifles her laughter at the use of the word ‘crush’.

“I know I have a crush on you. I’m pretty sure Alex knows it too. It’s all we talked about tonight.” Tobin chuckles.

“Really?” Christen questions excitedly. “It’s all Pinoe and I talked about tonight too. She kind of shoved me full of alcohol until I admitted it. Tomorrows going to suck.”

“Don’t you come back tomorrow?” Tobin remembers and immediately gets excited to see her.

“I do. Will I see you?” Christen asks, even though Tobin is sure she already knows the answer.

“I’d like to see you, yeah. I could pick you up from the airport, if you want.” Tobin offers.

“I’d like that. I’ll send you my flight information.” Christen says sleepily.

“Okay. I’m excited to see you.” Tobin admits. “We could grab dinner or something.”

“Tobin Heath, are you asking me out on a date?” Christen laughs.

“No.” Tobin trails off on the o of no. “I want to take you out on a real date, but I figure you’ll probably be tired from traveling tomorrow, so we could just do takeout and watch a movie at your place, or something.” Christen groans.

“That sounds perfect. I like the way you think, Toby.” Tobin laughs at the way Christen’s voice continues to sound more tired. When she first called her, she was loud and clearly drunk. Now she just seems tired, but at peace.

“Get some sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Tobin can feel her own eyes growing heavy and doesn’t want Christen to be even more tired tomorrow for her flight.

“I can’t wait to see you. Goodnight.” Christen says.

“Night.” Tobin ends the call and as soon as she does, a couple texts from Pinoe come in.

 **Pinhead:** Someone has a huuuuge crush on you, Heath. You’ve got that trainer of yours so caught up.

 **Pinhead:** Just so you know, I approve.

Tobin smiles at her friend’s texts and decides to wait until tomorrow to answer, too tired to even think of a response.

For what feels like the hundredth time since meeting Christen, Tobin falls asleep happy and excited about the days to come. Only this time, Tobin is looking forward to something more than just a workout or spending the day with Christen. She might not know what the future holds for them and she might not know how to navigate this uncharted territory, but nevertheless, she’s willing to leave her fears at the wayside and trek off into the great unknown. For the first time since her injury, Tobin is hopeful and she quickly drifts off to sleep with a smile spread across her face.


	5. "I could kiss you"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go! I hope you all enjoy this one, I know I enjoyed writing it. Thank you all for the kind words and kudos. It really motivates me to write and get quality chapters out to you guys. Keep it coming! Enjoy!

The next morning, after one of the best nights sleep Tobin has had in months, Alex comes flying through the door and collapses soundly on top of her.

“What the fuck, Alex.” Tobin groans as she tries to roll away from the striker.

“Wake up! Wake up!” Alex yells into Tobin’s ear before she gets up and crosses the room to Tobin’s closet. She pulls out a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.

“You morning people suck.” Tobin swings her legs off the side of the bed and watches as Alex strides back over. Tobin can tell her best friend is on some sort of a mission, but as to what that mission is, she’s not sure of just yet.

“Whatever. You love me. Get dressed, there’s a soccer ball waiting for you.” Alex says as she slips back out of the room before Tobin can object. She wants to follow Alex out, tell her she’s not ready; tell her she’s not sure she would know what to do with a ball at her feet at this point, but as she looks down at the shirt in her hands, she’s overcome with pride. She lets out a small chuckle at Alex’s strategic choice of shirt and finally pulls on her 2015 World Champions shirt over her sports bra covered chest.

“Well played.” She says to no one in particular, knowing Alex is well beyond earshot. “Well played.”

\--

Tobin looks up just in time to see Alex racing toward the final defender. She slips the ball through the feet of her own oncoming defender before racing around and sending the ball in toward Alex in the final seconds before she can be considered offside. It’s a near perfect pass, one that Tobin has only dreamed of being able to deliver for all the months of her recovery and as Alex’s head connects with the ball, sending it sailing into the back of the net, Tobin can feel all the air leave her lungs.

This moment, the simplicity of being able to feel the spongy grass beneath her cleats and the fire that fills her gut when she takes the pitch, is a turning point for Tobin; one that will stick with her for years to come. As Tobin stands there with open arms, awaiting an elated Alex Morgan, she finally realizes just how strong her bond is with the pitch and how strong it will always be, no matter what.

“That was amazing! See, I told you I need you out here.” Alex expresses as she jumps on Tobin, being careful not to put too much of her weight on the still recovering midfielder.

“It’s just a scrimmage, Lex. Don’t overreact.” Tobin plays it off, knowing full well how important this feels to her.

“So what! You’re recovering incredibly and I think you could get back well before midseason rolls around.” Alex throws her arm around Tobin and drags her off the field, waving their goodbyes to the team that gladly took them in for a quick matchup. “Seriously though, Christen is doing a great job getting you back to even better than you were before, if that was even possible.” Alex sends a wicked smile and wink Tobin’s way.

“She’s great at what she does. I’m pretty lucky.” Tobin smiles down at her feet as she takes her cleats off in exchange for her flip-flops, as usual.

“Oh yeah?” Alex inquires, noticing Tobin holding back a bit.

“Yeah, she may have drunkenly confessed to liking me last night.” Tobin confesses shyly, fiddling with her fingers.

“What! And I hope you informed her of your own crush!” Alex shoves Tobin’s shoulder lightly as they head back to the car.

“I did actually and then I offered to pick her up from the airport later and now I’m super nervous." Tobin admits.

“Just play it cool; act normal. You don’t have to make any drastic changes yet and I’m sure she feels the same nerves that you do.” Alex reassures Tobin. She’s right too; although Tobin might not know a ton about Christen, she does know that she’s probably just as nervous to see Tobin later as Tobin is to see her, if not more.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I don’t really know what normal is anymore though. It’s been a while since I experienced any form of normalcy.” Alex nods in understanding as she downs half a bottle of water. “Speaking of normal, by the way, thanks for today. I didn’t really think I was ready for the ball yet, but that felt better than I could have ever imagined. I needed that.” Tobin looks at the striker, who smiles widely in return.

“Thanks for giving it a chance instead of totally shooting me down like I thought you were going to do.” Tobin chucks at Alex’s explanation. “You were strong out there, Tobs. I’m so happy to see you doing well and getting back to the pitch.”

“I’m glad you were the one to push me back out there. It felt good to score some more goals with you again.” Tobin reaches over and ruffles Alex’s hair slightly. “Thanks, Lex.”

“Anytime, Toby, anytime.” Alex winks and Tobin lets the nickname go without argument. She’s feeling far too grateful for her best friend to take that away from her, so she lets her have it this once. Tobin knows that there will be more than enough opportunity, on and off the pitch, to dispute that nickname with the striker for years to come.

\--

“Flight 165 from Portland; baggage will be on carousel 3.” Tobin hears over the intercom and slowly makes her way over to that area. Luckily she convinced Alex to hang back for the night instead of overwhelming Christen with her presence at the airport. Tobin knows it was a good choice, but at the moment she wishes Alex had come along as she waits for what feels like forever for Christen to arrive.

Finally, she sees a large group of people coming toward the baggage claim and Tobin stands to search the crowd. She scans the room more than once, but can’t seem to spot her. Just as she turns back to sit down and wait for Christen to make her way over, Tobin hears someone call out her name. She looks up just in time to see Christen’s beaming smile just before the girl surrounds her. Tobin wraps her own arms around Christen’s middle and squeezes her close. Maybe she was in denial about how much she missed Christen, or maybe she just didn’t want to admit it when they were only just friends, but as Tobin takes in Christen’s scent and feels her body against her own, she comes to realize just how strong of a hold the trainer has on her already.

“I missed you.” Christen admits sheepishly while buried in the crook of Tobin’s neck.

“I missed you more.” Tobin says without the slightest hesitation. Her plan was to ‘play it cool’ like Alex suggested, but for whatever reason, that plan went out the window as soon as she saw Christen. They stand there in each other’s arms for a moment longer, until Tobin notices people grabbing their luggage off the belt. “Come on, we should probably get your bag.” She chuckles.

“Right.” Christen chuckles shyly as she releases Tobin from her grasp and follows behind her as they find a spot along the slow moving carousel. “There it is.” Christen says as she points at the beginning and Tobin nods to let her know she sees it.

Once Tobin retrieves Christen’s bag, the two head out of the airport and into the parking garage where Tobin is parked. Without even thinking, Tobin reaches out as they walk into the garage and slides her hand into Christen’s. She thinks to pull it away, act like it was an accident, but as she goes to do this, Christen’s grip tightens around Tobin’s hand. She turns and sees Christen’s smile as bright as ever.

“I like holding hands.” Christen pauses for a moment, just long enough for her to definitely notice the pink that has spread across Tobin’s cheeks. “I like holding your hand.” Tobin blushes an even deeper shade of red before turning back and focusing all her attention on putting one foot in front of the other. They finally get back to the car and Christen’s releases Tobin’s hand to let her open the trunk of the car. Although she’s grateful for the ability to walk, talk, and breathe again, Tobin immediately misses Christen’s closeness and makes a mental note to hold Christen’s hand more often. She places Christen’s bag in the trunk of the car and goes to close it before Christen stops her.

"Hold on. I have a surprise for you." Christen smiles widely at the confused, yet expecting expression that flashes across Tobin's face. Christen unzips her bag and Tobin can barely contain herself when she sees what Christen as brought back for her.

"My longboard!" Tobin yells excitedly. Christen hands it off and steps back as the midfielder throws it to the ground in the busy airport parking garage. 

 

"Tobin, be careful!" Christen attempts to get through to her, but she's off in her own little world and the warmth that fills Christen's gut at seeing Tobin so carefree is better than a hot chocolate on a cold winter day. After a quick lap around a few cars, Tobin's rolls back over. 

 

"How did you get this?" Tobin picks up the board and tosses it in the trunk before throwing her arms around the waist of an unsuspecting Christen, who erupts into a fit of giggles as Tobin lifts her off the ground. 

 

"Put me down and I'll tell you!" Christen laughs. Tobin puts her down, but doesn't release her grip on the brunette’s waist. "You had mentioned the other day how much you missed your longboard, so I asked Pinoe what your address was and your roommate, Allie, let me take it." The smile that spreads across Christen's face, as she explains the efforts she went through to do something nice, makes Tobin's heart flutter.

 

"Remind me to yell at her for letting some stranger steal my board." Tobin smirks at the pout Christen throws her way. "Kidding. Seriously, thank you. I'm so happy I could kiss you." Tobin quickly realizes the weight of her words just as they're finished leaving her lips. She wants so badly to pull them back in, but it's too late and Christen does her best not to let a chuckle out, not wanting to embarrass Tobin further. 

 

"You could, if you wanted to." Christen assures her. She doesn't really expect Tobin to kiss her; she's not the type to do something like that in an airport parking garage, of all places, but she puts it out there anyway. 

 

"Sorry, I didn't mean to say that. I want to, you know that, but - " Christen cuts Tobin off by putting her hand up.

 

"Tobin, relax. I get it. We can just take things slow. We both know how the other feels and that's good enough for now." Christen leans in and places a soft kiss to Tobin's cheek. The contact sends waves through Tobin's entire body. When she finally comes to, she realizes Christen has disappeared around the car and into the passenger seat. Tobin shuts the trunk before shuffling around and taking her place next to Christen.

 

"So how was the flight?" Tobin immediately feels dumb for asking a question everyone is tired of hearing, especially people who travel a lot; Tobin knows she definitely hates to answer questions that people don't really care to hear the answers to anyway; not that she doesn’t dare what Christen has to say in this situation. Maybe that’s why she's more of a silent type. She'd rather get to know people in important, meaningful ways; you don't really learn anything about a person from asking them how their flight was.

"It was alright. I'm glad to be back though. I think I'll stay on the ground for a while. Everything's going really well without me in Portland." Christen says, but Tobin senses some type of sadness in the tone of her voice. 

 

"You sound like you don't want it to be going well without you." Tobin notes. 

 

"It's not that; I just wasn't expecting to go all the way out there and have basically no work to do. That gym is my baby, my first baby, and it's crazy to think it's walking and talking just fine without me." Christen shrugs. "It's stupid, I suppose, but it's just how I feel."

 

"It's not stupid. I totally get it. A few years back, when I broke my ankle, it was super hard to see my teams go on without me and even succeed. I'm not so self centered to say that I was the reason we ever won, but it's just difficult to finally realize how replaceable you can become in some aspects of your life." Tobin explains. She can feel Christen's eyes on her, but she keeps her own trained on the road ahead. "At the same time though, it's nice to know when people don't need you anymore; when they can achieve something amazing for themselves, instead of with your help." Tobin finally turns to look at Christen once she reaches a stoplight. She can't quite place the look in Christen's eyes in that moment, but it's one she'll grow incredibly familiar with as time goes on. 

 

"I admire you, Tobin Heath." Admiration, the look in Christen's eyes is admiration. Tobin smiles back at the brunette for a moment before she sees the light turn green from the corner of her eye and turns her attention back. "You're right though, I feel a sense of pride for my people being able to succeed that far outweighs any sadness or doubt I have in my gyms. It feels so good when all my people do well; it just means I'm doing something right."

“Absolutely. You’re definitely doing something right here, too. Everything went really well while you were gone. I can’t speak for your employees, but I’m certainly glad you’re back.” Tobin smirks while pulling into the parking lot of Christen’s gym.

\--

After Christen settles in, unpacks a bit and starts a load of laundry, Tobin calls to order some sushi for dinner. They both agreed to have a relaxing night to binge watch House of Cards and just spend some time together. Surprisingly, Tobin doesn’t feel pressured or nervous around Christen at all since their mutual confession. If anything, she feels even closer to the brunette now than ever before.

As the two sit, with barely a centimeter between them, Tobin starts to wonder what it would be like to kiss Christen Press. Of course she’s thought of it before, but now the thought is even closer to reality and Tobin can’t decide if that frightens or excites her. She slyly turns to look at the beauty next to her and can’t help, but smile. Months ago, Tobin would never have imagined herself sitting here when she would barely get out of her own bed. Now, she’s recovering better than anyone could have imagined, including herself, and she’s found herself in the beginnings of something totally new to her. It might be terrifying, but the trust and appreciation she feels toward Christen is growing everyday and she’s almost positive she has no intentions of making that stop.

“I played soccer today.” Tobin blurts out, realizing she had forgotten to tell Christen about this huge thing. Christen whips her head toward Tobin with a look of pure shock spread across it.

“You did?” She wonders. Tobin nods and finally, after what feels like an hour passing, Christen’s look of fear turns into a warm smile.

“That’s amazing, Tobs.” Christen says while putting her arm around Tobin’s shoulders and pulling her close for a hug. “I’m proud of you. That must have been hard to do.”

“Honestly, it was. Alex didn’t give me much choice though, but I’m grateful for the push.” Tobin pulls back, but keeps her hand attached to Christen’s waist while Christen keeps hers hooked around Tobin’s neck. The two are so close that Tobin can feel Christen’s breath tickle her own lips. Tobin licks her lips as a reflex and watches as Christen’s eyes travel, following Tobin’s movement.

“How did your knee feel?” Christen asks. Tobin can’t help the smile the spreads across her face at Christen’s concern.

“Do you really want to talk about my knee right now?” Tobin questions and Christen’s eyes shoot back up to meet hers. At first, Christen looks embarrassed, like Tobin has caught her and read her mind, but moments later, a devilish look flashes in Christen’s eyes and she shakes her head.

“Not really, no.” She says with a smirk before closing what little space was left between their lips. The kiss starts off gentle and curious. Christen’s lips move slow against Tobin’s, painfully slow, making her ache for more of Christen’s body against her. Tobin pulls Christen closer by the loop in her jeans, while she throws her leg over Tobin’s lap to straddle her. With Christen so close, the fire in the bottom of Tobin’s stomach builds and the kiss that started off tender turns into something much more heated and passionate. Christen’s hands find themselves tangled in Tobin’s hair while she slips her tongue across Tobin’s teeth, almost begging for entrance, which Tobin allows without much hesitation.

Tobin can’t quite remember a time when she felt this comfortable with another person. It’s as if Christen has suddenly possessed the ability to read Tobin’s mind, like she knows just what to do that will make Tobin weak at the knees. Thankfully, Tobin is sitting; otherwise she’s not sure her legs would be of much use, what with Christen trailing kisses across her jaw, down to her neck.

“Chris,” Tobin breathes, as Christen runs her tongue over the most sensitive spots on Tobin’s neck. “Christen,” Tobin tries again. Finally, Christen snaps out of her own daze and looks at Tobin with a concerned look.

“I’m sorry, we can stop.” Christen states and starts to get off Tobin, but Tobin grabs her by the hips and pulls her back down.

“I never said I wanted to stop. I think we should just take a second. I don’t want you to regret anything.” Tobin brushes Christen’s hair behind her ear and Christen turns her head to kiss the palm of her hand.

“Regret what? Finally kissing you? Because I don’t think I could regret that.” Christen’s eyes harbor seriousness that Tobin hasn’t seen in her before, so serious that Tobin has no choice, but to believe her. “I just want to keep kissing you; nothing more. Is that okay?” Christen asks cautiously.

“Of course.” Tobin nods and Christen wastes no time reconnecting their lips. The two stay like that for what feels like hours, exploring each others lips and tongues, even some wandering hands find exposed skin under the hem of Tobin’s shirt. But the boundary is clear and simple; neither is ready to press things further, especially Tobin who’s adamant on taking the girl on a date first. Christen finally pulls away, albeit reluctantly, and leans her forehead against Tobin’s.

“Wow,” Christen sighs and Tobin lets out a small chuckle. “Don’t laugh at me.” Christen playfully pushes her shoulder. “I haven’t been kissed like that in a long time, probably ever.” Christen admits.

“Me neither.” Tobin leans up and leaves a soft kiss against Christen’s lips. “You’re really good at that.” Tobin smiles.

“Me? What about you?” Christen says while looking at Tobin’s lips. They’re red and swollen and it makes Christen smirk up at the midfielder, who smirks back.

“I should get going. Alex is probably blowing up my phone.” Christen slides off of Tobin onto the couch as she reaches for her phone. “Yep, twelve texts from Alex Morgan.”

“Jesus. Someone’s a bit protective, huh?” Christen gets up and walks Tobin to the door.

“She can be, yeah. She wants to meet you tomorrow. I was going to bring her by for my workout, if that’s okay.” Tobin asks as the two reach the bottom of the stairs. Christen glides her hands up Tobin’s arms and wraps herself around Tobin’s neck, pulling her close.

“Of course that’s okay. I can’t wait to meet her.”

“Good. We’ll go to lunch too.” Tobin slides her around Christen’s waist and pulls her in for a hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” They pull back and Christen nods before leaning back in and pressing her lips to Tobin’s. She lets out a small moan and Tobin thinks to pull her back upstairs and into the bedroom, but she grudgingly releases the trainer from her grasp. “Goodnight, Christen.” With one last peck on her cheek, Tobin slides out of the door and out to her car. The whole way home, Tobin can feel Christen’s lips lingering on her own. She can’t stop thinking about how it felt to be that close to Christen and she’s annoyingly counting the seconds until she gets to kiss her again. She pulls into her driveway and notices a silhouette sitting on the porch swing.

“Well, well, well. Someone looks like they had a fun night, ignoring my text messages!” Alex points a finger at Tobin as she walks up the front steps.

“I had a great night, actually.” Tobin says as she plops down next to Alex.

“Oh? So you finally did the deed?” Alex says crudely.

“Alex, fuck off. I’m not telling you anything.” Tobin buries her face in her hands to conceal the blush that spreads across her cheeks.

“You did, didn’t you!” Alex exclaims loudly and Tobin smacks her arm and shushes her.

“No, shut up,” Tobin says.

“Shit, you really like her, huh? Alex says sincerely and Tobin nods. “You’re totally falling for her already.” Alex says as she gets up to go back inside.

“No way.” Tobin says, but she can’t help the smile that takes over her face and the thoughts that run through her head; _maybe,_ she thinks, _maybe I am._


	6. Mini Golf Genius

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll just leave this here. Enjoy!

It doesn't occur to Tobin that she should even be worried about Alex meeting Christen for the first time until she's just about to walk through the front door of the gym. She stops quickly and lets Alex bump into her.

"Jesus Tobin." Alex mumbles, nearly spilling her smoothie all over herself.

"Sorry." Tobin signs. "Just listen for a second. Please, please don't embarrass me." She says with pleading eyes.

"Me? Embarrass you? Who do you think I am?" Alex says sarcastically, but Tobin's not nearly in the mood for it.

"Someone who embarrasses me regularly!" Tobin huffs at the brunette. Alex throws her hands up in defense, knowing, better than anyone, when Tobin is being serious or not and she's definitely being serious this time.

"Okay, okay. I'll be on my best behavior, I promise, Tobs." Alex sticks out her pinky and despite Tobin's initial reaction to roll her eyes, she links her pinky with Alex's. "Come on, let's go meet that girlfriend of yours."

"Alex, don't call her that!" Tobin hisses as they walk through the door, but Alex only smiles back at Tobin.

"Hey!" Christen says from across the floor. She hands off her clipboard to another trainer and strides over to the two. "Alex, it's great to meet you!" Christen wraps Alex up in a warm hug and Tobin smiles as she watches two of the most important people in her life meet. She thinks then about how quickly Christen became so important to her; how quickly she became so attached to her. If that wasn't so exciting to Tobin, it might terrify her, and it does, but more than anything, getting close to Christen has given Tobin a sense of pride that she has long since forgotten.

"Hey." Christen says again, only this time it's softer and sweeter as she wraps her fingers around Tobin's bicep and leans in to kiss her cheek. The feeing of Christen's lips against Tobin's skin send her into overdrive and she only thinks back to the night before, wishing she could have her alone again. "How are you?"

"I'm good." Tobin stutters as she looks down at her feet. Christen rubs her arm gently before turning back to Alex. Tobin knows she's mostly just nervous for what crazy things Alex is undoubtedly preparing to say, but nevertheless, she's happy to be able to introduce the two.

 

As it turns out, Tobin barely gets the chance to speak between Alex and Christen getting to know each other. The two get along better than Tobin could have ever imagined and she’s pretty content with getting her work out in and letting two of her favorite women talk all morning long. She reasons that even though she seems to have been forgotten, it must be better than the alternative of awkward silences and trying to dig for conversation starters; that is until Alex decides to tell as many embarrassing stories about Tobin as she can manage before Tobin catches on.

“Okay! I think that’s enough ruining my life for today, Lex.” Tobin slings her arm around Alex’s shoulders and the brunette quickly spins away.

“Ew, Toby! You’re all sweaty.” Alex scrunches up her nose.

“That’s what happens when you actually workout, instead of gossip all morning.” Tobin rolls her eyes. Alex sticks her tongue out at the midfielder while Christen simply smiles on.

“Whatever, Toby.” Tobin stews at the nickname the second time around. “I’m going to shower so we can get lunch. I suggest you do the same; you smell.” Alex turns and walks toward the showers. Tobin shakes her head, but begins to follow until a hand wraps around her wrist, pulling her back.

“You’re welcome to shower upstairs.” Christen says so quietly Tobin almost doesn’t hear her as she brushes her thumb against Tobin’s pulse point. “If you want to.” Tobin’s nodding before she even has a second to think about what that means and they walk all the way to Christen’s apartment door before Tobin figures it out. She tries to find the words to clarify what this means, but as soon as Tobin shuts the door behind her, Christen is pushing her against it, chasing Tobin’s lips with her own.

It takes a moment for Tobin to register that the warmth of Christen’s body against hers is actually real, but as soon as she does, her hands are attached to the trainer’s hips, fingertips dipping boldly under the hem of her tank top. She slides her hands down, firmly grabbing Christen’s ass, effectively pulling their bodies closer, as a soft moan breaks through Christen’s lips. The sound only spurs Tobin on more, so she quickly switches their position, now pinning Christen to the door. Tobin releases Christen’s lips in favor of littering open mouthed kisses along her jaw and finally on her neck, where Tobin spends time getting familiar with the skin covering her wildly beating pulse. She thinks to make a comment about that, but can’t seem to pull her mouth away long enough and not really wanting to. Christen’s fingers tangle with the loose hairs at the base of Tobin’s hairline and the way she presses her fingertips into Tobin’s neck send shocks through her spine.

Tobin makes quick work of removing Christen’s shirt before the sound of her voice pulls her from her daze.

“Tobin.” Christen says weakly, tugging at her hair to pull her back. “You should shower. Alex is probably waiting for us.” Tobin leans back in and smirks into the base of Christen’s neck.

“Let her wait.” Tobin husks out, but Christen only laughs for a split second before her head falls back against the door when Tobin continues her trail of kisses down passed Christen’s collarbone. “Shower with me.” Tobin mumbles against the skin just above her sports bra. She’s shocked as soon as the words leave her mouth, not even really wanting to move that quickly herself, but she’s thankful when she finally feels Christen shake her head and push Tobin back again.

“No way.” She says with a shy smile spread across her lips. Tobin ducks her head and creates a bit of much needed space between the two.

“I know, sorry. Got a little carried away I guess.” Tobin explains as she reaches up to scratch the back of her neck, somewhat embarrassed to admit just how turned on she is from seeing Christen without a shirt on, when it is certainly not the first time. Only now, she struggles to keep her gaze fixed on Christen’s face instead of her tight upper body and she knows the girl in front of her can definitely tell by the smirk playing on her lips.

“It’s okay, babe. Me too.” Christen slides her arms up Tobin’s arms where they stay wrapped around her shoulders. “I just don’t want our first time to be in the shower,” she pauses and Tobin nods, but Christen leans in and leaves a lingering kiss just under her ear, “especially when Alex is waiting for us. I want to take my time with you.” It takes everything in Tobin to not let out a breathy _fuck_ at the confession, but she manages with a shudder before Christen pulls back, smirking at the midfielder.

She leaves Tobin standing there as she walks around her and to the bathroom. Tobin quickly swallows her desire, knowing full well how likely it is for Alex to come barging in unannounced if she feels like she’s waited too long. She already knows Alex will have something to say when they meet her back downstairs and she’s not sure she’ll be able to subdue the blush on her cheeks and pulsing between her thighs long enough to keep Alex from assuming anything happened.

So, Tobin does her best to shower quickly and keep her mind from wondering, failing miserably all the same.

\--

Surprisingly, Alex doesn’t make a single comment about Tobin taking longer than necessary to shower, in Christen’s apartment, nonetheless. They have a, relatively quiet, lunch before Alex has to be dropped off at the airport for her flight back down to Florida. It isn’t until they’re saying their goodbyes that Alex can’t contain herself any longer.

“I’m going to miss you so much, T. Please take care of yourself, okay? You’re so close to being back on the pitch and I need you to get better. Got it?” Alex says, wrapping her arms tightly around Tobin’s neck. It’s comforting, having Alex care immensely about her recovery and it makes her want to try that much harder to get back.

“I hear you, Lex. I’m doing my best.” Tobin reassures the striker. “Thank you for coming; it really got the ball rolling for me – pun intended.” She says with a chuckle. She feels Alex laugh against her neck, but holds on even tighter. “I’ll be back soon, kicking your ass as usual.”

“Good.” Alex mumbles into Tobin’s shoulder before pulling back and wiping at her eyes. Tobin just smirks at her always too emotional friend. “I’m glad you have a trainer like Christen to whip you back into shape. Good thing she’s implementing those useful shower sessions.” Alex says with a devilish smirk and a wink before stopping around Tobin to hug a shocked and unsuspecting Christen. “Take care of this one for me. She’s a wildcard sometimes. Call me if she gets out of hand.” Alex releases Christen and grabs her bags. With a nonchalant wave, she disappears into the airport.

“She’s good. Didn’t even give me a chance to argue with that one.” Tobin shakes her head and turns toward Christen. “Told you she’d think whatever she wanted to think. We totally could have showered together.” Tobin says just above a whisper as she opens the car door for Christen.

“You better text her and tell her we didn’t.” Christen says sternly, but can’t seem to keep the slight smile from spreading across her lips. Tobin nods in understanding before shutting the door and jogging around the car to get behind the wheel.

“So, should I get you back to the gym?” Tobin asks as she pulls away from the curb.

“Not if you don’t want to. I cleared my day. I figured we could do something fun.” Tobin can’t help the grin that takes over her entire face upon hearing that she gets to spend the day with Christen. She quickly thinks of all the fun things they could do and decides on a classic.

“I’ve got an idea.”

“Do tell.” Christen says as she reaches over to intertwine their fingers.

“That’s for me to know and you to find out, babe.”

\--

As soon as they pull into the parking lot, the surprise is gone, but that doesn’t stop Tobin from loving every minute of seeing the joy spread across Christen’s face.

“I love mini golf!” Christen squeals and jumps out of the car as soon as Tobin puts it into park. “I hope you know what you got yourself into. I’m going to wreck you.” Christen says as she stands at the window waiting for someone to assist them. Tobin wraps her arms around Christen’s waist from behind and kisses just behind her ear.

“Please do.” Tobin whispers hotly against Christen’s ear.

“Tobin!” Christen turns to face Tobin and smacks her on the arm. Tobin responds by kissing her quickly and stepping around her to pay.

“Let’s make this interesting. Loser buys ice cream.” Tobin says as the two pick a ball and head toward to first hole.

“That’s boring, don’t you think?” Christen challenges and Tobin raises her eyebrows. “How about,” she pauses as she steps into Tobin’s space and slides a finger through her belt loop, tugging her closer, “winner eats ice cream off of the loser.” Tobin nearly falls over once the words leave Christen’s lips and it takes everything in her not to cancel the whole game and take Christen home. Before she can even reply, Christen steps back and tees up at the first hole. Tobin rubs her hands down her face, willing herself to snap back into the game, but her mind is running wild with the things she wanted rather be doing.

“That was mean, Chris.” Tobin says, as Christen gets ready to make her first putt. “How am I supposed to concentrate on anything now?” She taps the ball just hard enough for it to go through the loop and out onto the other side where it stops inches from the hole. Christen smirks back at Tobin.

“You better figure it out, Toby or I’m going to be enjoying ice cream off of you later.” Christen winks and Tobin feels her knees turn to jelly and she’ll pretty sure she’s doomed.

 

\--

“You totally hustled me. I would never have agreed to this bet had I known you were some mini golf genius.” Tobin huffs after counting up their scores and realizing Christen was right on par, let alone 8 strokes under Tobin’s score.

“I’m not a mini golf genius, you were just distracted, understandably.” Christen says as the two come to a stop by Tobin’s car. She wraps her arms around Tobin’s shoulders and smiles wickedly at the midfielder.

“You got 3 hole in ones, Chris. How is that not genius?” Christen simply shrugs before leaning in and pressing her lips to Tobin’s, who quickly deepens the kiss by pulling Christen’s hips against her own. Christen slides her hand down to Tobin’s chest and pushes her back lightly.

“How about I spear you one and we just get ice cream here and then head back to my place?” Christen runs her fingers up Tobin’s neck slowly, causing goosebumps to erupt all over Tobin’s body. “I’ll take care of you,” she says just above a whisper, “ya know, for beating you and all.” Christen releases Tobin from her grasp and walks backwards toward the ice cream parlor, still facing Tobin.

“I don’t need your pity and I certainly don’t need a pity fuck.” Tobin smirks, as Christen’s cheeks turn pink. “Two can play this game, babe.” Something in Christen’s eyes goes dark and Tobin comes to a stop in front of her, just at the bottom of the stairs.

“On second thought, forget the ice cream. Take me home.” Christen demands and Tobin is pulling Christen back to the car before she can even say another word.

 

The ride back to Christen’s is almost too much for Tobin to handle. They’re only about ten minutes away when Christen reaches over the center of the car and begins rubbing the inside of Tobin’s thigh.

“Chris.” Tobin warns, gripping the steering wheel until her knuckles are white. Only Christen seems to take it as a challenge, because she’s leaning over into Tobin’s space now, trailing light kisses across Tobin’s jaw and down her neck. Her fingers press dangerously close to the zipper of Tobin’s shorts and she lets out a shaky breath.

“You okay?” Tobin can feel the smirk playing on Christen’s lips against her pulse point and it nearly causes her to fly off the road to deal with the heat building between her legs as soon as possible. She can’t even bring herself to respond, but she’s thankful when they finally turn into Christen’s place moments later.

The two get out of the car without a word and head inside the gym toward the stairs to Christen’s apartment. Tobin keeps a safe distance, knowing there are cameras in every corner of the gym and she’d rather not have a staff member review the tapes to find an unexpected surprise.

The second they are through the door though all bets are off. Tobin’s hands are attached to Christen’s hips faster than she can even turn around and Christen reciprocates by pushing her backside into Tobin. A sigh leaves Christen’s lungs as soon as Tobin’s lips make contact with her neck, which she willingly gives to Tobin by leaning her head back against her shoulder, giving her more than enough room to work with. But it’s not Christen’s neck Tobin is interested in at the moment. She quickly turns the brunette around to face her and lifts her up, allowing Christen to wrap her legs around Tobin’s waist. Tobin’s lips are on Christen’s instantly, the force of it all causing Christen to grind herself against Tobin’s hips. The movement makes Tobin lightheaded, so she finally picks up her feet toward Christen’s room.

“End of the hall.” Christen says softly before nipping at Tobin’s bottom lip, not even realizing this will be the first time she’s seen Christen’s room up until now. If her mind wasn’t so foggy with want and desire, she might over think the speed at which they are moving, but Tobin doesn’t have the willpower to stop now.

Tobin’s knees finally hit the bed, allowing her to place Christen down and reoccupy the space between her thighs. Her lips make their way down Christen’s jaw again, where she leaves open-mouthed kisses all over her neck, drawing out a moan from the back of Christen’s throat. The noise makes Tobin bite down hard on the soft skin covering Christen’s collarbone and the trainer hisses as she squeezes her thighs around Tobin’s waist.

“Tobin,” Christen moans out as Tobin’s hands find the taut skin just under the hem of her shirt, which Tobin quickly pulls off and discards over the side of the bed. Before Tobin can continue her way down Christen’s body, she’s suddenly flipped over and under Christen’s hooded stare. “You tease too much.” Her hands are under Tobin’s shirt in seconds, pulling it off and throwing it away with her own shirt. “I want to take care of you first.” She leans in, breathing heavy against Tobin’s ear. “Is that okay?” She asks only waiting a second for Tobin to nod before pulling off Tobin’s sports bra. She sits back on Tobin’s thighs and silently admires the girl underneath her.

“What?” Tobin wonders, suddenly feeling exposed under her stare. Christen just shakes her head and smiles.

“You’re gorgeous, that’s all.” She admits and leans in to press her swollen lips against Tobin’s as her hands meet Tobin’s breasts, leaving her breathless for a moment. Christen pulls back, but leans in again to take Tobin’s nipple into her mouth and what Tobin thought was breathlessness before has nothing on how she feels now. She squeaks a moan as her back arches up, pushing her harder against Christen.

“Touch me.” Tobin hears an unrecognizable voice, until she realizes it is herself and she can’t begin to believe how far gone she is for Christen. She’s not used to being the one begging, but she thinks maybe that’s okay when she has Christen to take care of her.

“Don’t worry. I told you I wanted to take my time with you.” Tobin groans impatiently, but Christen doesn’t let her suffer long before she makes her way down the rest of Tobin’s torso, nipping and sucking as she goes, hoping she left a few marks along the way. She pulls off Tobin’s shorts and underwear in one shot, kissing each thigh lightly before finding her place between them. She looks up at Tobin through her eyelashes before leaning in and trailing her tongue over where she’s most sensitive. Tobin throws her head back into the pillows as Christen works her up with her tongue. She can tell just how worked up Tobin is by the slew of moans and curse words leaving her mouth, but Christen had no clue how much the sounds would affect her own desire for the footballer. She slides her own hand down into her shorts and strokes at herself, just as Tobin looks down to see.

“Fuck” she breathes out and comes with a gasp that has her body shaking underneath Christen. Within seconds though, Tobin is pulling Christen up and flipping them over. “Let me.” She says and Christen nods eagerly, as she pulls her hand away from her center and up to her lips. She takes Christen’s fingers into her mouth and closes her eyes at the simple act of finally tasting her. The warmth of Tobin’s mouth around her fingers nearly makes Christen come beneath her, but instead she pulls Tobin down and kisses her feverishly.

Tobin pins Christen’s arms up above her head as her hand trails down, ghosting over Christen’s pulsing core. She thrusts her hips up into Tobin’s hand and she wastes no more time slipping her finger inside of her. She kisses Christen, but the girl underneath her can’t be bothered to reciprocate, too busy feeling every nerve ending in her body on fire. She slides a second finger and Christen throws caution to the wind, letting out a loud, back arching moan, opening up her neck to Tobin, who attacks it with hot lips and a wondering tongue. Tobin can feel Christen getting closer as she curls her fingers up inside her and rubs circles against her clit. The combination pushes Christen over the edge and trembling against Tobin’s body. She’s completely out of breath by the time she’s finished, so Tobin slowly strokes her down, reeling in the way her body reacts to even the simplest of touches.

“That was,” Christen sighs, “wow.” Tobin slides off of Christen onto her side and traces circles against Christen’s abs with the hand that was just making her writhe underneath her. Tobin hums in agreement before leaning in to kiss the trainer soundly.

It doesn’t take long before the brunette is asleep, curled into Tobin’s side. She takes the moment to watch Christen as she sleeps and realizes just how at peace she is, but even more so, how at peace she makes her feel. It’s a feeling she isn’t used to since her injury and it shocks her how quickly it surrounds her; this feeling of warmth and easiness. It settles in her quietly, without her knowing, much like how Christen did. The thought brings a slight smile to her face and she can’t seem to fight the sleep as it makes her eyelids heavy and her breathing steady. Despite Christen bring in her arms, it doesn’t stop her mind from only dreaming of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm back with a... fun chapter for you all. I know it has been a while, but I've been super busy with life and work and moving. I will do my best to get another update out to you guys faster than this last one took. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please keep leaving that feedback! It keeps me going.


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